ITL Links • Getting Started With Blackboard • Designing Your Blackboard Site • Adding Users to Blackboard • Adding Content to Blackboard • The Gradebook • Using Quizzes • Online Discussions • Collaboration • Blackboard Tools
The Control Panel is your key to customizing your Blackboard course site. The Control Panel button can be found on the lower left hand side of the screen, and is only available to users with "instructor" access. The Contol Panel interface controls the way that your site will display to all users.
The Control Panel is broken up into subsections based upon the different areas and tools included in the system. From a site design standpoint some of the most important links in the Control Panel are located in the Content Areas and Course Options portions of the display.
"Course Options>Manage Course Menu" allows you to customize the way that your navigation menu will appear to users of your Blackboard site. You can rename navigation buttons, disable areas, and really customize the way your site navigation will appear. The "Course Options>Settings" link has a variety of tools that will allow you to customize the design and appearance of your site, including the title, duration, entry point, and a host of other options.
To customize your course menu login to your site and then click "Control Panel>Manage Course Menu". From this interface you will be able to rename navigation sections, disable buttons and sections altogether, and enable or disable guest access. In addition, this interface will allow you to create additional content or tool areas, add course links, or add URLs to external sites.
Clicking on the button labeled "Modify" will allow you to rename menu items, while the "remove" button will remove the item altogether.
The use of folders is an important concept to understand in Blackboard. Folder can be thought of as hierarchical markers in your course that make it easier for your students to navigate around. The key to using Blackboard successfully is to design an easy to use course site and to break your content up into logical categories. If you run your course on a week by week basis it would be a good idea to organize your content in this fashion. So, for example, in this scenario we would want to login to our site and browse to the Course Documents section of our control panel. Now, before we add an item we will first want to "Add Folders" that will server as our content containers for each weeks materials.
Once these folders have been added you can begin adding content items into them. This will make it easy for students to navigate your course site.
Often a student may complain to you that they are unable to access your course site. One reason that they may be unable to access your site could be due to the fact that the Site Availability is set incorrectly. You can check on this setting by logging in and clicking:
Control Panel>Settings>Course Availability
Make sure that this is toggled to "Yes".
Often a student may complain to you that they are unable to access your course site. One reason that they may be unable to access your site could be due to the fact that the Course Duration is set incorrectly, or has expired. You can adjust this setting by logging in and clicking:
Control Panel>Settings>Course Duration
Make sure that the date range has not expired. If it has adjust it to extend the dates of availability to your preference.
The Blackboard Control Panel has a link that will allow you to copy content areas between your current site and any other site that you have instructor level access to. This is a handy feature when you are teaching several sections of a similar course per semester. To use this feature login and click "Control Panel>Course Copy". Highlight the site ID of the site that you'd like to transfer the materials to, then place a checkmark in the box next to the content areas that you'd like to transfer. After you have made your selections scroll to the bottom of the form and click "Submit".
You also now have the ability to copy content from anywhere in your site to any other site that you have instructor level access to. In order to copy single content items browse to the specific content area in question and click on the button labeled "Copy" next to the content item itself.
The different user access levels control different aspects of what an individual user can do. This chart gives you a general idea of the different types of actions a user type can perform:
You can allow guest access to certain
areas of your site by logging in and clicking "Control Panel>Manage Course
Menu". From this interface you can enable guest access on a content area
by content area basis. This will allow anyone with a Blackboard account to browse
to your course and see the content that exists in the specific content areas that
you have "enabled" guest access for.
If you need to create a "guest" account for an instructor at another
University please send an e-mail to blackboard@uic.edu.
Yes, you always have the ability to change display options associated with your course site. Login and click "Control Panel>Settings>Course Name and Description".
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Last Modified: July 8, 2005 - Instructional Technology Lab